Partnership Resources

Thanks to sponsorship and support by NSTAR, Bowditch & Dewey, VHB and Framingham State University, the Partnership produced this guide designed to organize and frame the flurry of activity around energy issues.

2009

Density Through Design Report

The 495/MetroWest Partnership commissioned the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass-Amherst to conduct a graduate level planning studio aimed at examining the issue of housing density in the 495/MetroWest region. An outgrowth of the Density Through Design Initiative, the report that resulted from this study illustrates how innovative design solutions can yield higher density housing projects that are appropriate in suburban settings, attractive, and will be successful in the marketplace. Click here for the report.

Green Infrastructure Toolkit

The 495/MetroWest Partnership commissioned UMass-Amherst’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning to inventory and assess the green infrastructure resources and opportunities in the 495/MetroWest region. The final product of this Initiative was the development of an electronic Green Infrastructure Toolkit with internal links to areas within the document and external links that lead to websites that contain pertinent information on each section. The Toolkit is framed around 5 elements of green infrastructure: Stormwater Quantity and Quality, Habitat and Ecosystem Protection, Multi-Modal Transportation, Energy Efficiency and Conservation, and Waste Management. These element areas were selected in response to issue areas of regional and state concern and mirror elements included in other green infrastructure toolkits and programs across the nation. Click here for the Toolkit.

2008

USGS Study

Part of the 495/MetroWest Partnership and MAPC’s water resources strategy, this U.S. Geological Survey report provides hydrological modeling resources for the Assabet and Upper Charles River Basins. It allowed for the Partnership to call for federal stimulus funds required to address water infrastructure needs in the region. Click here for the report.

Economic Indicators Report

In collaboration with Framingham State College’s MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC), the 495/MetroWest Partnership developed a regional economic analysis for the 495/MetroWest region. This report provides regional information on census, employment, and unemployment data, providing the businesses and municipalities in the 495/MetroWest region with comprehensive economic information. Click here for the executive summary. Click here for the full report.

Green Infrastructure Initiative

The Partnership developed an initiative to inventory and assess the green infrastructure resources and opportunities in the 495/MetroWest region by teaming with faculty and graduate students at the University of Massachusetts- Amherst’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. The initiative examined the basic concepts and principles associated with green infrastructure and detailed the economic, community, and ecological benefits of green infrastructure planning. The initiative also examined green infrastructure resources and opportunities at the regional scale, the municipal scale, by working with the city of Marlborough and the Town of Medfield, and the site/parcel scale.

2007Density Through Design InitiativeThe Partnership teamed with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning to conduct a graduate level planning studio to examine workforce housing and residential density issues. The studio worked with the towns of Medway and Sudbury to examine the issues associated with housing density. The municipalities provided parcel information for two sites that were used to produce site/development plans based on design techniques that allow higher density housing projects that are appropriate in the parcel’s setting, attractive, address the root fears associated with density, and would be successful in the marketplace. Through this effort the project identified barriers to developing moderate density workforce housing in a suburban context as well as density limitations not related to regulations. The Partnership density project also examined regulatory and design precedents from around the United States and Massachusetts that address the challenge of developing moderate density workforce housing in suburbs.

WaterSmart Indicators

Part of the 495/MetroWest Partnership and MAPC water resources strategy, this report offers a set of “Water-Smart Indicators”, which provide a snapshot of the region’s impact on water resources. Additionally, this report provides a selection of fundamental tools that communities can use to improve water resource management, as well as recommendations for further action to be taken in response to this issue in the Commonwealth. Click here for the report.

Brownfields Resource Guide

Made possible through the generous support of Bowditch & Dewey LLP, AIG Environmental, and Haley & Aldrich, this guide was developed as a tool for municipal officials and developers at the local level in Massachusetts. It features regional case studies and inventories state and federal programs. Click here for the guide.

2006

SummerSmart Water Use

Part of the 495/MetroWest Partnership and MAPC’s water resources strategy, this guide describes many strategies that water suppliers, municipal officials, and citizens can use to reduce peak demand on their water systems. Among other solutions, the guide describes water use regulation, conservation pricing, and public education can help reduce water demand. Click here for the full report.

2005

Once Is Not Enough Guide to Water Reuse

Highly treated wastewater provides an environmentally friendly and cost-efficient water source for growing communities as well as alternative options for wastewater disposal. Part of the 495/MetroWest Partnership and MAPC’s water resources strategy, this guide details potential applications of highly treated wastewater, with descriptions of case studies in Massachusetts, discussion of cost considerations, and recommendations for increasing water reuse. Click here for the full report.

Low Impact Development Toolkit

Part of the 495/MetroWest Partnership and MAPC’s water resources strategy, this toolkit provides a set of 9 detailed fact sheets on LID techniques, including design, technical, cost, and regulatory issues. Click here for the full report.

2004Top Ten Transportation NightmaresIn the spring of 2003, the 495/MetroWest Partnership partnered with MetroWest Daily News and the Community Newspaper Company to ask people who travel within and throughout the region to identify what transportation nightmares they had to deal with on a daily basis. Overall, about 150 specific issues were submitted for consideration. A committee composed of elected officials, town planners, regional administrators, transportation planners, and engineers then narrowed the list down to the ten most severe dilemmas facing transportation in the region. Click here for a synopsis of the project.

The 495/MetroWest Partnership joined forces with the non-profit organization Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) to conduct an affordable housing public awareness campaign. The campaign used community outreach and advertising to support the production of more affordable housing in the 495/MetroWest region. Click here for a brochure related to the campaign. Click here for the campaign’s media advertisement. Click here for posters from the campaign.